This invention relates generally to cigarette dispensers, and particularly to cigarette dispensers of the type which include means for lighting cigarettes as they are dispensed.
Heretofore, cigarette dispensers have been provided with flame generating means for igniting the cigarettes as they are dispensed as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,282,882 and 2,281,060. More recently, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,307,741, cigarette dispensers have been provided with electrical resistance heating elements for igniting the cigarettes as they are dispensed. The use of electrical heating means has simplified the mechanisms for actuating the igniters and has lessened the danger of the dispenser itself being damaged by an ignition flame.
Though cigarette dispensers with electrical heating element lighters haver heretofore operated with some success, several problems in their construction have persisted. For example, where cigarettes are routed aside the heating element their degree of proximity therewith varies. This variation often leads to ignition failure or to such minimal ignition as to self-extinguish before a smoker has an opportunity to draw air in through the cigarette and thereby enhance combustion. The mechanisms employed in timing the passage of the cigarette over the heating element have themselves been powered by the same source of electric current used in powering the heating element. This places excessive load upon the source of current, particularly where that source is a battery, thereby shortening the life of the power source or necessitating frequent recharging.
Where the cigarettes have exited the prior art dispensers to accessible trays, either end may be gripped. This has led to instances of an inattentive user mistaking the ignited end for the unignited end thereby self-inflicting personal injury. Where cigarettes have been stacked one upon the other within the dispenser, there has been some tendency for multiple cigarettes to become ignited simultaneously or to jam gate mechanisms provided for inhibiting such multiplicities of ignitions.
Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide an improved cigarette dispenser and lighter.
More specifically it is an object of the invention to provide a cigarette dispenser and lighter with improved cigarette ignition means.
Another object of the invention is to provide a cigarette dispenser and lighter with relatively simple mechanical means for successively bringing individual cigarettes into timed engagement with an electrical heating element.
Another object of the invention is to provide a cigarette dispenser and lighter of the type described with means for rendering only unlit ends of cigarettes accessible to users.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a cigarette dispenser and lighter of the type described with relatively simple and reliable gate means for inhibiting cigarettes stacked in multiple layers from passing in groups into contact with the igniter.